Member Since: 13 Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 122
Ongoing air suspension fault, going into limp home.
Im at my wits end.
I have a 2006 Disco SE with 18k.
For the last 5 years Ive had an ongoing issue with the air suspension that I cant seem to resolve.
Its generally worse when its cold.
1st year.
If it had been under ~0 degrees at hight, after about 10 miles driving. within 100 yards of the exact same roundabout, bong all manner of lights, dropped down on the air suspension, and Id have to pull over, switch off, switch on raise suspension and carry on. sometimes that would be it, sometimes it would keep going for the next few miles to work.
Changed the battery towards end of the cold period and that seemed to fix it.. for then.
2nd year
Same thing again, changed the battery but it didn't help. never quite figured out the issue, change some ride sensors but it got better after the cold weather.
3rd year,
same again, changed the air compressor... which worked for a couple weeks until it started again.
4th year
After it started again, did some air leak checks and found the air reservoir had a leak... changed it for a second hand one which I checked cleaned up and painted. worked for a few weeks till I started getting issues again. Found that I had also a rear air bag lower seal/garter split.
Between about year 2 and 4 I found that the yellow warning light would come on shortly after starting. I could drive the car fine, but wouldn't have the 'special' options which tbh I was fine with. End of last year I was finding it was either not coming on initially but then going red a bit later which meant constant repeats of switch off and on again etc.
Recently I was also getting 'car raising slowly' and also ' car will raise when system cooled'. The car would raise slowly, although the back would go up OK, but the front was slow to raise.
Its at the local garage, they have checked and replaced some seals in the solenoid blocks, checked for air leaks, change the compressor seals/desiccant, fixed the rear air strut seal, replaced a rear high sensor that was raising faults.... but the car is still through an orange light after a short drive.
They decided to change the compressor seals as they said it was building pressure to about 13 bar, but not going any higher, but it should be about 16 bar?
Garage and I are about out of answers.... any help would be greatly appreciated as the car has been in/out of the garage for the last couple months.
Thanks
Mattt
27th Feb 2022 9:45 am
Globetrotter448
Member Since: 21 Mar 2017
Location: Londonderry NSW
Posts: 1783
As you have done the valve block seals, the message car raising slowly is possibly the valve by the compressor. This has seals in it which can be replaced or replace whole valve.
27th Feb 2022 10:59 am
Yankee_Rover
Member Since: 02 Jun 2021
Location: Seattle
Posts: 183
The overheat message is from the air compressor working overtime due to your air leak. Slow to raise means it’s a big enough leak that the computer notices it. Usually leaks this big are audible. Yes, the working air pressure of the air tank should be 16.8 bar, so your leak is preventing pressure from reaching the desired operating pressure.
Odd that the trouble is present only during cold temperatures. Is the car garaged or parked outside? I wonder if the desiccant expired and allowed some water into the system, creating a blockage or cracking a service line? This is just me speculating. Does the vehicle really only have 18k km (or miles?)? That is incredibly low! If it is sitting for long period of the year, that could be helpful to know.
A common leak is a cracked air dryer cap, which can crack slight enough to be unseen but severe enough to produce the “slow to raise” message. Spraying soapy water on the cap would show bubbles.
Other leaks can be created by undoing and reconnecting the various fittings on air struts and valve blocks. I personally have fixed a slow valve block leak only to create a major leak at a connector when I buttoned everything up. Again, soapy water. Considering the number of items fussed with, this is possible.2008 LR3 HSE, 4.4L V8
28th Feb 2022 12:47 am
PROFSR G
Member Since: 06 Mar 2017
Location: Lost
Posts: 4658
Water saturated and/or disintegrated desiccant in the drier which then freezes solid in cold temperatures blocking the air path.
If the car has been run for successive years in this condition that compressor will now essentially be scrap. Overheating of the motor is a dead giveaway for this. (I'm surprised it kept going for so long )
New compressor, and don't be fooled into buying cheap crap that will last a few weeks if you're lucky.
Genuine Hitachi or AMK whichever one is fitted. yµ (idµ - eAµ) ψ=mψ
28th Feb 2022 1:23 am
mattm
Member Since: 13 Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 122
Thanks all,
One edit I misspelt.. car is 189k definitely NOT 18k
Ill ask the garage about the valve block seals near the compressor. and also the dryer cap. they say they have checked for leaks already, but Ill probably go over everything with soapy water again when I get it back.
Compressor is less than a year old, however I did replace it with a 'cheap' one.... I note the point about them being 'crap'... hmm perhaps this is the issue.
Thanks
Matt
28th Feb 2022 9:19 pm
mattm
Member Since: 13 Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 122
Edit:
Just an update,
when I picked the car up this morning from the garage, the orange light came on after a few seconds, with the Suspension Fault 'normal suspension mode active'. Weirdly when stopped at a T junction or traffic with the foot on the brake, I can see the menu/mileage/trip etc, but as soon as I set off moving the message comes up flashing and I cant cycle through the menu.
Garage said they hadn't looked at the diverter valve by the compressor. Apparently, it's a C1A20 error code.
Im going to check the dryer cap and also this diverter valve block.
Drove fine otherwise.
1st Mar 2022 4:48 pm
KevlarPants
Member Since: 29 Dec 2019
Location: IPSWICH
Posts: 46
I had odd issues with suspension lights etc.
I replaced dryer end cap and beads which was the original issue but then had normal height error ONLY when drove away.
Turned out to be because I had disconnected the battery, I had to recalibrate the steering sensor, which was just full locks a couple of times!
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